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Friday, March 30, 2012

This morning I got up around 7/ 7:30. More birds greeting the morning sun.

I got dressed, did what I normally do, you all know what I mean, by 8;00 am, expecting someone to set me up with shirts, radio, etc.. I went ahead and made breakfast, a bacon, cheese and vegetable omelet and some tea. Still no one showed up, so I took a walk around this part of the park where many of the Park Hosts are parked. It was a short walk, but it is one thing to get started, with some kind of exercise. It was a nice early morning walk to get to know what’s what in my area of the park.

taken from behind the VC

had to check out the Ladies washroom, shower to the left out of pic.

Angel seemed to enjoy her walk, since this was the first time in quite a while that she has been on her retractable lead. After she did what she does, I took a ride over to the Headquarters to see what I will need for Sunday, when I actually start doing what I will be doing. I met the staff on duty, more new faces, where I saw Lisa who gave me my Official Park Shirts and Hat, (baseball cap), a cup and pin. Since I am supposed to work 24 hours and will be working the Visitor’s Center on Sundays and Thursdays, I would need another 8 hours. So I will work at Headquarters on Saturday doing Day Passes, at least until I am needed at the VC for more hours there, and then went home to let Angel out again

That taken care of I walked over to the VC to meet another Linda who works on Fridays. We visited a while. There is a garden behind the VC, where there are Identifying signs,

While walking back home I stopped to get some pictures of the flowers between the VC and home.

same flowers, on the side of the road,closer and closer view

some kind of flocks ?

The first picture above is by the road where I saw the deer last night.

Lambs Ear ? ? ?

All day I was hearing some birds in the tree on my sight. I have no idea what kind it is, but the call that it makes is kind of like a gurgle or a warble followed by a high pitched whistle. I couldn’t get a good picture, but it is dark in color. It is in the upper center of the picture below. Judy, Any ideas as to what it might be?

As I was getting something for lunch, Vestal stopped by to see if I wanted to get my radio, keys and Gator. ( It is something that I can use to drive anywhere that I need to go in the park. He also showed me where the Hosts’ Laundry room, the shops, where I can get Ice and all the other things that are available for Park Hosts. While were out he got a call that there was a problem with one of the guests water, so I just went along for the ride, while he took care of it. I drove the Gator, just to make sure I could do it. It was very easy, even though it steers like a truck and there are no turn signals, now what were those hand signals again? LOL I really do know what they are, but hopefully I’ll remember to use signals when driving my truck. I’ll get a picture tomorrow, when I left I forgot to take my phone and camera.

When I got back home he followed me back in his truck to help me with the water flow. I had taken the regulator off to get better flow, but he said that pressure can change here, so it is best to have one on the hose. He showed me where it was clogged and we fixed it, so now it isn’t as high as it was, but it does have a steady flow.

I put the regulator (dark thing in the bottom left side, inside the compartment)

He also checked my propane and couldn’t figure out how it is working and why it doesn’t switch over to the 2nd tank or why there isn’t another turn on switch on that 2nd tank. I guess I will call FLRV back in CA. In the mean time I can just get someone to switch tanks when I need to.

This one has the switch This one doesn’t

I can’t say enough good things about the people here at Garner SP. Everyone has been so helpful and friendly.

When we were done, what I had put out for dinner was thawed, so I fixed my soup and decided to finish the last of the wine with a bit of tonic while I try to catch up on reading blogs and write my own.

I am now waiting for my #2 daughter, Sandi to arrive. She and Mary (#2 granddaughter) are one their way from Ft Worth. They left around 7:00 pm. They probably won’t get here until after midnight. I’m not sure what we will be doing after she goes through the things that I saved for her. I’ll of course show them around the park and where I will be working. So for now……

Thursday, March 29, 2012

This morning, Thursday, I woke up to the singing of birds. When the sun was finally up, I took a shower and got dressed. Just in time, too. Rick was knocking on my door to let me know that Linda, who runs the visitor’s center was in the VC and that I could go talk to her and make arrangements for a work schedule. I will be working on Sundays and Thursdays at the VC and then at the Registration Office, doing who know what, to get the other 8 hours in until it gets busy at the VC.

She also needed to get some pictures near the river, so I went with her and she showed me where the vendor is and what they do. When we got back to the VC, she told me about all the things in there. One thing that they have is a Touch Box. It is really interesting. There are all kinds of things that you can pick up and feel including an Armadillo shell, a few jaw bones with teeth, rocks and a lot of other things. There is a lot for sale including t-shirts, books and pictures along with other GSP souvenirs. My first day will be on Sunday when I will learn the computer and register system, trails and everything else that I will need to know.

VC

This taken from behind the VC looking at “My Spot”, (walking distance).

This afternoon I went into Uvalde, 31 miles south of the park to replace some of the food that I had to throw out. I stopped at an HEB grocery store and stocked up on produce, then at Wal Mart. I got some stakes for my outside rug,(which I need to take back), but I was actually looking for a single stair, the bottom stair is too high and it is difficult for my sister to get into the rig. They didn’t have one, so I will have to keep looking. While there I also filled up the truck, so far the lowest that I have paid, 3.899 for diesel.

When I got back to the park, I decided to take a look at all of the other camping areas. Wow, this is a very big park. I think that Mike, another Park Host, parked two spaces from me, said that it is over 18,000 acres. ( I think that is what he said) It is a beautiful park, with lots of shaded areas as well as open areas. There is a lot to do here, especially on the weekends for now, Once Memorial Day is here, it will be very, very busy all the time. It is supposed to be the busiest state park in TX.

This picture doesn’t do it justice, as the flowers cover the meadow and are much deeper color.

When I got back to the rig I sat outside with drink and a book. Mike was scarring the crows away because they were eating the food that he set out for the finches. He came over and we talked for a while. It was beginning to get dark and as I was ready to inside, I spotted a deer. They evidently come down off the mountain at dusk and go to the river, the go back up at dawn. Fortunately I had just recharged my camera battery. I was able to get a picture, but it is kind of dark.

If you click on the picture, you will see a faun to the left. These are White Tailed Deer. There are also Axis Deer in the park, but I haven’t seen one yet. I have seen lots of squirrels ( Judy, I thought that you would like to know that), also lots of turkeys and finches.

Tomorrow I should be getting my phone/radio,shirts, keys and whatever else that I will need. Then I will have to start taking Angel and of course my camera for walks. I am hoping that the walking will help me to lose another twenty pound by the end of summer.

In the morning it was still cloudy, but no rain when I left Ft Stockton. (I went past where that RV park was supposed to be, never saw it.)

The scenery was getting prettier, more and more green interspersed with wild flowers, yellow, pink and lots of bluebonnets. If you click on the picture below you can see the bluebonnets.

Still cloudy, but rain until I turned off heading south on TX 83. The first thing that I see was a sign saying, “pavement ends 20 miles. Oh No! I sure don’t need to take my rig down 37 miles of dirt road. So I continued thinking of the worst conditions that I could think of. Just before I get there, a new sign. The road work lasts for only 8 miles. Well that’s a little better! Now when I actually get to the road work, signs say rough road and no center line. It’s getting better, there were patches of already fixed road, most with center line. At about 7 1/2 miles into the road work there is finally a road crew. Only one side of the road is torn up and there is a lead vehicle escort through the construction on the one lane that is still good.

The only reason I went into so much detail is because that was the highlight of this part of the trip, that and a couple of sprinkles of rain.

The rest of the trip was on a good road. I got to Garner State Park at about 1:00 pm.

I met with Rick who took me around to the various sites to figure out where I would park “My Spot”. I am in the Shady Meadows Area, right behind the VC where I will be working. The WiFi is available, but for some reason I get an error when I try to post on my blog , on their WiFi or tethered to my phone, so you might get these all at once that I get this glitch figured out.

After leaving Dream Catcher’s RV Park, my possible goal was to make it to a P/A park in Ft Stockton, TX, approximately half way to Garner SP. I wasn’t sure about the park. I couldn’t find any information on it and only a poor review say that they couldn’t find it in their GPS. So I found one in Balmoreal (Sp) a bit west of Ft Stockton. As I passed it, I decided to press on, which I did, watching a storm front coming my way. There was a few showers, enough for the wipers on intermittent. I ended up finding the Wal Mart, asked if it would be alright to spend the night. It was okay, good thing too, because it got windy and wet, I was so tired that I hardly noticed it after I fell asleep.

In the morning I went into the store to get some fruit for breakfast.

On to the state park!!!!!

So far I haven’t been able to post because of the WiFi here. I will try at the Visitor’s Center.

Just a short post to let you all know that I made it to Garner State Park.

Good Morning Janelle

I got up early Monday went over to Janelle’s. my host for the last two weeks, to have a cup of coffee and say goodbye. I was ready to leave, but didn’t leave as early as I planned. I was ready to go, but my truck wasn’t. The batteries were dead. So I called Coach Net, who sent out Joe ( I forgot the company’s name). He was there within an hour and jumped the battery. I let it run for a little while and was on my way. It probably had something to do with the inverter being on for the refrigerator. I think that we have figured it out. When Ted left he switched it to gas, but the check light came on which indicated that the ignition wasn’t working. While I waited for service, Janelle went to the store to get some dry ice for both compartments to keep the food cold until I could get here. At one place on the way when I stopped to get fuel, I also had them fill both propane tanks. One was still full, but it hadn’t switched over from the one that was empty. ( cost only 17.00 to fill a 7 gallon tank) That is why it didn’t work. Now it does. I will have to find out why it didn’t switch over. I can’t find a switch to turn on the other tank either.

Once I got out on the road, I stopped at O’RiIey’s Auto to have them check the batteries, (they’re okay), but I did get some battery post cleaner and a wire brush.

I still had to dump the tanks. They were kind of full after “mooch docking” at Janelle and Lupe’s. I went to Kelly’s Family Car Wash. A really nice place to get your car or RV washed (all automatic). They have a dump station all done on the honor system. You put 5.00 in the slot and you dump the tanks and clean up, close the lid and you’re on your way. It shouldn’t take very long, except if you have another mishap. I have a clear connector that connects to the trailer and then to the black hose, well you guessed it, It came off the hose and there was a quite a bit of cr*p that came out before I could close the valve, at least it was mine and I had gloves on, although I got a little bit on my sleeve. It reminded me of Robin Williams in the movie when he rents an RV, but not as bad. It took over an hour to take care of everything. I was finally on my way by 11:30.

I got all the way to Deming NM by 6:00 pm, where I dry camped at the Escapee’s Dream Catcher’s RV Park for 5.00 + 63 cents tax. I got up early, took a wonderful loooooong hot shower and was gone by 8:30.

I only put out the bedroom slide.

I’m exhausted and will post more on the next leg of my journey to TX tomorrow.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Wednesday Donna was able to come over for lunch. Over some Chicken Gumbo we caught up on what we have been doing for the last 54 years. Needless to say it wasn’t a short visit. It was beginning to get dark and reluctantly she had to leave. Hopefully it will be a lot sooner that we meet again. We had a great visit, but forgot to take pictures.

Thursday, I was supposed to meet with my niece and nephew, but had to postpone it until Friday. So I relaxed all day and made a dent in the novel that I am reading. It is the fourth or fifth time that I have read it, but it has been several years. Boy, did I forget about a lot of the details, time travel Scottish history, and relationships, wow! When Heidi got home from work, I went over to her place and we relaxed in the hot tub for an hour or so. Nice.

Friday, more reading and we went to Chili’s in East Mesa to visit with Pam and Dan. I haven’t seen Dan since I lived here before, more than ten years. There was a lot of catching up with them too.

me, Dan and Pam Cousins, Dan, Pam and Heidi

When I dropped Heidi off at home I picked up Svea Ailis. She was able to spend the night so that we could go to the Good Sam Rally at the Phoenix International Raceway the next day.

Saturday was a busy day too. When I got up I discovered that the refrigerator wasn’t working. The check light was on, so I got out the manual and discovered the ignition for access to the gas wasn’t connected. When Ted left he had set it to run on propane and has been working all this time. I’m not sure why it wasn’t working, so I turned on the inverter and switched it to A/C, said a prayer and left, hoping that it would work.

I was able to get miss Sleepyhead up and out earlier than her norm, and take my laundry over to her apartment where her mom, Heidi, graciously agreed to do for me while we were gone.

I wanted to go back to IKEA and take some shelves back that I bought last week. Then we stopped for breakfast on the way out to meet Kevin and Evelyn of http://rvkhroniclesofkevelyn.blogspot.com/. They are staying in Buckeye AZ before going on to CA. We had a nice visit before I was to meet Mellissa and kids at the Rally.

Kevin and Evelyn

We met Mellissa at the entrance gate and took the trolley into the Rally. Unfortunately, because we only had Day Passes, we weren’t able to stay for the entertainment. I didn’t realize that we would have to pay (a lot) extra for each person, including the kids, so it was cost prohibitive to stay. We were able to go into the “Big Tent” where all of the venders were and see all the stuff that is available for RVers to spend $$$$. I was able to restrain myself and the only thing that I bought was new stair covers for my entrance stairs.

I put them on this morning. As far as the R/F, I think that it is working. I will go out and get a couple of thermometers so that I can keep track.

That brings me up to today, Sunday.

This morning’s Sunrise.

Can I come in now?

I have cleared everything away from the slides, strapped down furniture and put everything away. I still need to go get fuel and a couple of things at the store. This afternoon I will hitch up and be ready to leave in the morning.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Water, water where is it going? I hooked it up like I did last weekend when I needed more water. My reading was showing 25%----after about 15 minutes, I knew that I didn’t put too much in and it showed 31%. I thought that I did it right, NOT!

Evidently I hooked it too the city water connection instead of the Fresh Water Connection, and it clearly states Fresh Water Connection, Duh! It took all of an hour and a half and a couple of phone calls for me to fully understand EXACTLY how it works. When I had it hooked up properly, fifteen minutes later I was at 75% and by the time I walked 150 feet to the hose bib at Janelle’s, turned off the water, walked back, put all the hoses away,and checked the monitor it was 94%. I think that will get me through until I leave next Monday, then I will need to find a place to dump the black and grey.

I’m standing by the hose bib, if you look close you might see the hose.

I haven’t been posting every day for a couple of reasons:

One:

It was windy on Saturday and it has been raining since Sunday. Since I’m on Solar and still not sure what I can and cannot use without depleting the batteries, I am choosing to be safe and not use the inverter unless I absolutely need to. When it gets dark, I only need one light (LED) on at a time to read a book (I have begun to reread the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon), and no TV. (I might as well get used to it, as there is no TV reception where I will be this summer.) I use my I pad to read an e book and can use my phone. It has been really cold. (I thought that I had left the 40s at night in Sacramento.) I stay under my down comforter until the sun is up and charging my solar panels. Then I get out of bed and get dressed, down the stairs to the kitchen and heat some water in the kettle for tea and since it is so dry here, then let the steam out into the air for some moisture. So far , it has been working for me.

Two:

I have been busy visiting with family getting them to go through my closets, cabinets and basement to see if they wanted anything. Each took turns going through pictures, taking what they wanted and put some aside for Sandi when I will see her this summer. We also went out to lunch at IKEA on Sunday. We mostly were looking for decorating ideas for Heidi for her new apartment and I wanted to replenish my supply of Lingonberry Jelly, (it is so much cheaper there than anywhere else). I like to peruse the “As Is” section, just to see if there is any thing that I need. I found a couple of zippered cushion covers that I can use, (instead of me making them), for the large pieces of foam that I have.

One is for the left over 2” memory foam from when I cut down the piece that was on the king size mattress that I changed out and put the smaller piece on the sofa/sleeper. It fit perfectly in the beige one.

They other is a 2’ square white one that I put the 4” regular foam in. It will make extra seating for anyone who doesn’t mind the floor.

I was able to get Elyzabeth, (granddaughter) to take the two shelves and baskets for her room. (they were kind of heavy) Both Heidi and Mellissa took some of my paintings. I gave a water color painting with a heavy frame to Janelle. I think that I made a dent in what I sill have to purge. I still have some for my daughter, Sandi and some for my sister, Evelyn, who both live in TX. Once all that is gone, that’s when I can figure out what I will be using and purge the rest.

I am still in the transition stage of going from a stationery house to one on wheels. There are a lot of things that you do day in and day out in either place, but it is the free time that is the challenge. I have had so many things that I am interested in and have the supplies to do them, but now will I actually do them? There’s cross stitch, crocheting, painting, selling some of my artwork or reproducing others’ onto gift items, which will it be?

Then there’s the work situation. This summer it is Workamping, but after that I will have to get another full time job to settle my taxes from last year. It will hopefully only take 2 years and then I will be debt free AGAIN. In the mean time I will just pay a little bit each month.

The rest of this week will be busy too. Tomorrow I will be meeting Donna, whom I haven’t seen in about 54 years. We graduated from the same elementary school in Chicago. Unfortunately Margaret won’t be able to join us,even though she is also in the area. We did get to talk for a while last Saturday. There will be a lot to catch up on.

Thursday, meeting in the works, don’t know the details yet. Friday, my granddaughter, Svea Ailis will spend the night and then on Saturday we will meet with Mellissa and kids to go to the Good Sam Rally west of Phoenix for the day, They want to see Martina McBride, who will be performing there. Ailis wants to check out the RVs. I’ll also call Sandie and Jim, of WHERE ARE THE DIXONS TODAY? , (who will be there for the entire Rally.) to see if we can meet one more time before I leave.

Then Sunday it will be preparing for the road. I want to have everything hitched up and ready to go that night so that I can leave early Monday morning. I’ll be taking it slow, don’t have to be at Garner State Park until Sunday, April 1st.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Thursday. was another slow day, that was spent going through everything that Mellissa brought over and the things that I still had that I was saving for the girls. That took most of the day.

One more thing that had to be taken care of: The handle on the freezer broke and had to be replaced, so I went over to Camping World in Mesa to get a new one. Of course I needed to give them the model and product #s and I didn’t have it with me. I would have to make another trip. On the way home I stopped at Wal Mart to find some thing to keep the refrigerator/freezer closed in transit. In the past one of the doors had come open. I found a shelf unit for the bathroom that the pole has a spring in it. I put it together without the shelves, and it works.

The rest of the day was sorting more STUFF. Heidi came over and helped. We put some things aside for Sandi. Mellissa would be coming on Friday to go through for herself. We got to share memories and stories and laughed a lot.

Friday, Mellissa and the kids came over so that she could take her turn at the the stack of pictures and albums. The kids were bored, so we went over to CW to get the part for the R/F and Wal Mart to get some thing for dinner. Later after Heidi was off work she picked up Svea Ailis form home and came over. Then it was Ailis’s turn.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

We got a few things done after fixing breakfast. Even though we awoke a bit early, we stayed in bed until the sun came up to begin charging the solar panels. Ted had to be at Sky Harbor Airport by noon. We had a little time and I was in need of some new sandals,so we ran over to Arizona Mills Mall where there was a Sketchers store and I found exactly what I wanted and was out of there in about 15 minutes.

Ted stayed in the truck with Angel as it was starting to get a bit warm. He wanted to get something to eat before getting on the plane, so we went over to Tempe Market Place where there was a Best Buy. I was having trouble charging my phone and I Pad while in the truck. We bought a charger with two USB outlets. After that it was time for him to be at the airport. I think that that part was hardest part of this trip, Ted leaving. Boo Hoo, but I really didn’t cry. I am so thankful that he was able to take the time to help me drive this far,and be with me to help with all that transpired on the way here. THANK YOU, Ted!!!

From there I went home, but stopped at my former church, Love of Christ Lutheran Church in Mesa. I only knew one person there, the secretary, Darlene. We visited for a few minutes and went on my way. I did stop to get some fuel before I got back to “My Spot”, (paid $4.159—Thank you Betty for correcting me on my last post. can I blame it on being tired--- that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).

I really must be tired, because I actually took a two hour nap. Later, Heidi and her husband, Chris came over when she got off work. She went through all the pictures that I still had, (that’s some of what Mellissa brought with her the day before). Mellissa will come over on Friday with the kids and go through my STUFF to help me reduce the weight in my rig. Heidi will be back to do the same.

Before we knew it it was nearly 10:00 pm, said our goodbyes and I went to bed.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Finally, we are in Quartzsite for the night at the Pilot Truck Stop, didn’t want to try to find a place on BLM land after dark.

Well, to recap Monday: It started out with a call to Pull Rite bright and early. Ted did all the talking, not that I couldn’t, it was just easier. We spoke with Leslie S in customer service, who did an excellent job in solving our problem. We started the process by filling out some forms (online) and taking pictures for her. Ted climbed up in the truck to get those pictures of the hitch from all angles and I helped him find all the purchase information to send her and answered a whole lot of questions. She determined that it would still be unsafe to tow even if the part was replaced and authorized replacement of the hitch. Woo Hoo, Thank You Leslie. We would only have to pay for shipping. Allrighty! Now, the search begins. Leslie started calling to locate a dealer that had one in stock, within a reasonable distance so that we can get it ASAP. She located one at Mike Thompson RV Dealer in Riverside.

Everything stared at 5:00 am PDST and it was about 11:00 am. The KOA check out time is 12:00 pm, so I went up to the office and explained that we were ready leave, but need to get the new hitch. No Problem! Just let us know when you leave. (there no extra charges)

Back to Riverside: When we got to the dealer, they directed us around back to the service bay,where they collected our hitch and gave us the new one. We dealt with Jim, who said that we didn’t have to pay for the shipping, only the labor for the installation, but since Ted could do that, No Charge! Another Woo Hoo! Then we high tailed it back to Banning and the KOA. We did make a detour to Pet Smart to get some deworming tablets for Angel. (I digress TMI)

Ted was able to install the hitch in less than an hour. While he did that, I fixed left overs for lunch, made sure everything was ready inside and the went out side, dumped the grey water and unhooked the cable. It was about 3:30 pm. Another hiccup, all the lights worked, except the brake lights. Another call to Coach Net, spoke with Mike, he found a dealer that would be able to look at them. Off to Bob Millers RV in Beaumont. Ted doesn’t remember the fellow’s name, but they crawled around under the truck checking out all the wiring. They couldn’t fix the connection in the bed of the truck, but it works with the bumper connection. Their minimum charge for labor is $95.00/ per hour, but since he couldn’t actually “fix” it, he charged half. While there I found a replacement light fixture for above the door. Ted will install it when we get to Phoenix. We were FINALLY on the road by 5:00 pm. That’s why we only made it to “Q”. Called Barbara in “Q” to say hello. but unable to visit, we’ll just meet later down the road.

Tuesday;

Out on the road at 7:30 am heading toward Phoenix. We still had fuel, but not enough to our destination. We paid $405.9 to fill up with #2 diesel in Buckeye. Finally making it to Queen Creek where I will be staying for the next week and a half. Thank you Janelle and Lupe for your hospitality and letting me “driveway dock” on your property. This is giving me a way to learn how to manage living with Solar. We were gone after setting up and came back with drained batteries (not completely) but low enough to not use the TV, etc..

When getting here we still had to resolve the brake light situation. I had called Sandie and Jim, http://wherearethedixonstoday.blogspot.com/ in Apache Junction who graciously offered to help Ted and let him use his tools to fix the problem. While they worked on the wiring, I visited with Sandie. Thank you both for your hospitality and help. I certainly appreciate you both. We made tentative plans for them to meet later this week. (for got to take pictures, sorry) Jim also asked me if I could use a bed cover for the truck. I have been looking for one to protect the hitch when it isn’t being used, needless to say if it fit, the answer was yes. It did and the price was right. SOLD. Thank you so much, Jim.

On the way back home we stopped to see my #1 daughter, Heidi to see her new apartment and decided to go out for dinner. My #3 daughter,Mellissa and her kids were on their way out, so we waited and had a great meal at The Olive Garden. She brought some of the things that she was storing for me with her, so we transferred them to the truck, she will bring the rest on Friday. Heidi came back to see “My Spot” for a few minutes and then we brought her home and made plans to see her tomorrow.

That was it for yesterday In bed by 10:00 pm. Ted will be leaving in the morning, going back to Sacramento to get his truck and then back to San Francisco and work on Thursday.

The delay in posting was due to life happening, but that;s what this life is all about. Gotta Love it. I’ll be pack with more updates.